We're told that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane has indicated that he expects to issue a ruling on American Airlines retiree health and life insurance benefits in the near future.

If so, nobody will accuse him of acting precipitously. American filed its first action in that matter on July 6, 2012, and the last hearing on the matter came on Jan. 23, 2013, nearly 14 months ago.

At an "omnibus" hearing Tuesday in Lane's New York courtroom, Lane told lawyers he has a draft order about ready and would expect to issue it in a couple of weeks, we're told (all this is second hand, because we weren't there).

American wants the judge to rule that the airline has the right to modify its retiree health and welfare benefits. The Committee of Retired Employees has argued that the company made binding promises under ERISA and cannot unilaterally modify the benefits.

American told the judge that it had reengaged with the retirees committee last week to talk about a possible settlement. However, any settlement means that retirees will be paying more than they had been.

American previously told the judge that it was paying $10 million or more to cover its retirees. It had argued that most other companies don't provide the benefit, and it cut off the promise of post-retirement insurance for current employees in late 2012.

In the Jan. 23, 2013, hearing, an attorney for the retirees retorted that the current employees could assert claims to make up for the loss of their retiree insurance, but the ex-employees already retired could not do so.

"We are following the path of many other U.S. airlines which have previously reduced their costs through the bankruptcy process, so that we can successfully restructure our company to effectively compete," American spokesman Casey Norton said Tuesday after the court hearing.

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